Layered Double Hydroxide Materials: A Review on Their Preparation, Characterization, and Applications

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs), a type of synthetic clay with assorted potential applications, are deliberated upon in view of their specific properties, such as adsorbent-specific behavior, biocompatibility, fire-retardant capacity, and catalytic and anion exchange properties, among others. LDHs are materials with two-dimensional morphology, high porosity, and exceptionally tunable and exchangeable anionic particles with sensible interlayer spaces. The remarkable feature of LDHs is their flexibility in maintaining the interlayer spaces endowing them with the capacity to accommodate a variety of ionic species, suitable for many applications. Herein, some synthetic methodologies, general characterizations, and applications of LDHs are summarized, encompassing their broader appliances as a remarkable material to serve society and address several problems viz. removal of pollutants and fabrication of sensors and materials with multifaceted useful applications in the medical, electrochemical, catalytic, and agricultural fields, among others.